Putter Keeps Cypress Leader On Top

July 09, 2000|By JENNIFER L WILLIAMS Daily Press

SMITHFIELD — Tyler Williamson has the hot clubs right now, but he and everybody else know that can change.

The 140 or so regulars on the developmental National Golf Association/Hooters Tour are very familiar with each other. They play in a different city every week and travel in the modern-day version of a caravan.

Williamson shot a 3-under-par 69 in Saturday's third round of the Cypress Creek Classic at the Cypress Creek Golfers' Club to stay in the lead. The 28-year-old from Decatur, Ala., jumped out in front with a course-record 65 on Friday and remains atop the leaderboard.

Scott Sterling of Baton Rouge, La., is two strokes behind Williamson and Vienna resident Chad Moseley is another two strokes off the pace. Among the locals, John Stone of Yorktown is tied for 16th and Chesapeake's Jon Corliss is tied for 51st. Kevin O'Bey of Suffolk Golf Course is tied for 63rd.

Today's tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. with the last group scheduled to go off at 9:20.

Williamson made a bunch of birdie putts on Saturday, carding four birdies and a bogey on the front nine before hitting a lull. He bogeyed two of the first three holes on the back nine, but quickly regrouped and went on to birdie two of his last six holes.

"The guys are good out here, so it's not like you can just sit on any lead," Williamson said. "You've got to keep going forward. I know I'm going to have to play well tomorrow and keep doing what I'm doing."

The Cypress Creek event follows an off week for the 23-tourney tour and signals the beginning of a grueling stretch of 11 tournaments over the next 13 weeks.

The tour's appeal has improved a little this year with the increase of first place prize money from $15,000 to $20,000 per event and the addition of a tour championship tournament to the end of the schedule.

Moseley, 23, graduated from the University of Richmond last May and tried over the summer to see if he liked playing for pay. He decided he did and is a full-time Hooters Tour player this year.

His carded 67s in both the second and third rounds to stay in contention at Cypress Creek.

"I'm feeling good about the week," Moseley said. "I've only had two bogeys in three rounds. I made some ground up today, going from six back to four back going into tomorrow and I'll be in the last group - which is what I was looking for."

The Hooters Tour does not pay travel expenses for its players, but does make arrangements for local citizens to house some of them. The event literally rolls into whichever course it's occupying that week with an 18- wheeler that serves as a tournament headquarters on wheels complete with scoreboards on the outside panels.

The players with families try to have their wives and children meet them at some point so that they don't go weeks without seeing them. For single players, it's a chance to work on their game just about every day.

"It's tough having a different home every week, but if you can get used to that it's a lot of fun," Moseley said.

The constant temporary living arrangements and nomadic existence are all the means to these players' ultimate goal-a PGA Tour card. Pro golf training grounds like the Buy.com and Hooters tours are the means to that end.

"This is like a whole fraternity of golfers and that makes it fun, there's a little bit of camaraderie," Williamson said. "We are all struggling out here. It's not a lot of money, but we want to see everybody do well.

"We all want to play on the PGA Tour, so the more help you get the better."